scholarly journals The Influence of Aspects of Social Identity on the Development of L2 Phonology

2006 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 28-35
Author(s):  
Jenia Yudytska
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Social Identity ◽  
Speech Production ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Native Speaker ◽  
English Speaker ◽  
Native English Speaker ◽  
English Speaking ◽  
Time Periods ◽  
Over Time

Over time, second language (L2) speech production changes as the learner gains more experience with the language. Factors such as interaction with native speakers of the learner’s  L2 are known to play an important role. It is less clear to what extent, if at all, aspects of social identity influence the development of the L2 (Hansen Edwards 2008:372– 373). This longitudinal study examines the development of the actor Jackie Chan’s L2 (English) phonology. His speech production in two time periods 9 years apart is contrasted: in 1998, before he gained success in the English-speaking world; and in 2007, after he had released multiple Hollywood blockbusters.To check that factors such as age of acquisition were not the only reason for a lack of alignment over time towards English native-speaker norms, another context was taken from 2007, namely, an interview with a French native speaker. In foreigner-directed speech, there exists a pressure to produce more standard variants (Zuengler 1991:234). If Chan uses fewer non-standard variants with a non-native English speaker than with a native English speaker, it would imply that there is some degree of intent in his usage of non-standard forms and that his development, or lack thereof, is not only due to uncontrollable factors of second language acquisition.Two variables are examined: his production of stops in word-final codas containing a single stop and in wordfinal consonant clusters containing a stop as the final consonant. Native speakers of English generally pronounce these stops, whereas native speakers of Chinese often simplify them by deleting or glottalising them (Setter et al. 2010:15, Hansen 2001:340).In 2007, Chan is found to use a greater rate of the standard non-simplified variant than previously; however, he also simplifies his pronunciation by deleting the stop in the codas more often than in 1998. He uses standard forms that align with English native speakers to a greater extent when talking to non-native speakers. After 9 years of working in Hollywood, he would have gained more experience with English due to his social network consisting of more English native speakers, resulting in the expected increased alignment with native-speaker norms. However, his English has developed so that the non-standard variant of deletion is also used to a greater extent; the usage of this variant emphasises Chan’s identity as a Chinese native speaker. This emphasis is possible because of his success in between the two time periods: not only does he no longer have to align as much as possible with English native speakers so as to appeal to the English-speaking market, his success as a specifically Chinese martial artist means that highlighting his identity as a Chinese native speaker has more linguistic capital. Thus, it seems that factors of an L2 learner’s social identity do indeed influence the acquisition and development of their L2.

A Variationist Analysis of Second Language Spanish Trill Production

2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-37
Author(s):  
Danielle Daidone ◽  
Sara Zahler
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Opposite Direction ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Native Speaker ◽  
L2 Learners ◽  
Phonetic Context

Abstract The current study examines the production of the Spanish trill by advanced second language (L2) learners using a variationist approach. Findings indicate that learners produced less multiple occlusion trills than native speakers and their variation was not constrained by the same factors as native speakers. Phonetic context conditioned the use of the multiple occlusion variant for native speakers, whereas frequency and speaker sex conditioned this variation for learners, and in the opposite direction of effect as expected from previous native speaker research. Nevertheless, the majority of tokens produced by learners were other variants also produced by native speakers, and when the variation between native and non-native variants was examined, learners’ variation was conditioned not only by frequency, but also phonetic context. Some of the phonetic contexts in which learners produced non-native variants were comparable to those in which native speakers were least likely to produce the multiple occlusion trill, indicating that articulatory constraints governed variation in trill production similarly for both groups. Thus, although L2 learners do not exhibit native-like trill variation, they appear to be developing toward a more native-like norm. These insights provide support for adopting a multifaceted variationist approach to the study of L2 phonological variable structures.

scholarly journals An incremental model of second language speech production mechanisms: Developmental evidence from object ellipsis in second language Chinese speech production

2019 ◽  
Vol 24 (4) ◽  
pp. 783-810
Author(s):  
Boping Yuan ◽  
Lulu Zhang
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Speech Production ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Recall Task ◽  
Early Stages ◽  
L2 Chinese ◽  
L1 Influence ◽  
Korean Speakers ◽  
Production Mechanisms ◽  
L2 Speech Production

Aims: This study investigates object ellipsis in English and Korean speakers’ second language (L2) Chinese speech production and the effects of first language (L1) influence in L2 Chinese speech production. Design: 59 English speakers and 64 Korean speakers at various Chinese proficiency levels, as well as 16 native speakers of Chinese, participated in the study. In addition to an acceptability judgement test, an utterance-recall task was employed in the study to prime participants for relevant structures. Findings: There are early stages where derivations, such as move, deletion, etc., are not implemented in L2 speech production, although at later stages L2 speech production mechanisms can converge with that of native speakers. No evidence of L1 influence is found, and L2 learners are found to behave differently in the utterance-recall task and the sentence acceptability judgement task. Originality: The study includes data from L2 Chinese learners from beginner to advanced levels and provides a comprehensive picture of structural priming effects on the development of L2 speech production. Implications: There is a discontinuity in the development of L2 speech production mechanisms, and the development of the mechanisms is incremental in nature. Mechanisms for L2 language comprehension are different from those for L2 speech production, at least as far as L2 at the early stages is concerned.

Referential choice in foreigner talk and in learners’ speech in Japanese

1998 ◽  
Vol 15 ◽  
pp. 57-76
Author(s):  
Satomi Kawaguchi
Keyword(s):  
Speech Production ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Native Speaker ◽  
Underlying Mechanism ◽  
Information Economy ◽  
Attention Focus ◽  
Syntactic Development ◽  
Underlying Mechanisms ◽  
Cognitive Orientations ◽  
Referential Choice

Abstract This study of referential choice by Japanese native speakers and learners of Japanese has revealed some significant features in three different types of speech: 1) NS (native speaker)-NS interaction; 2) FT (foreigner talk) and; 3) NNSs’ (non-native speakers’) speech production. The study revealed that both NS in FT and NNS simplified their referential choices. It demonstrates, moreover, that the development of referential choice by NNS correlates with their acquisition of syntax. This experiment was conducted to determine the underlying mechanism for referential choice. The results indicate that potential ambiguity and attention/focus shift affected the referential choices for both NS and NNS of Japanese. Excessive use of both full NPs and ellipsis were observed in NNS speech; by contrast only excessive use of full NPs was observed in FT. This may be explained in terms of the different underlying mechanisms for referential choice used by NS and NNS: different cognitive orientations in the use of two principles of speech production: 1) the clarity principle; and 2) the information economy principle (Williams 1988). Furthermore, the development of use of full NP and ellipsis by NNS varied according to their level of syntactic development.

scholarly journals Multilingual access: Language hegemony and the need for discoverability in multiple languages

2018 ◽  
Vol 79 (11) ◽  
pp. 617
Author(s):  
Kelly McElroy ◽  
Laurie M. Bridges
Keyword(s):  
English Language Learners ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
English Language ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Native Speaker ◽  
Social Identities ◽  
Educational Institutions ◽  
Growing Up ◽  
English Speaking ◽  
English Speaking World

It is widely accepted that English is the current lingua franca, especially in the scientific community. With approximately 527 million native speakers globally, English ranks as the third most-spoken language (after Chinese and Hindu-Urdu), but there are also an estimated 1.5 billion English-language learners in the world.The preeminence of English reflects the political power of the English-speaking world, carrying privileges for those who can speak, write, and read in English, and disadvantages to those who cannot. This is also the case in scholarly communication. Linguist Nicholas Subtirelu identifies three privileges for native English speakers: 1) easier access to social, political, and educational institutions; 2) access to additional forms of capital; and 3) avoiding negative opinions of one’s speech.For example, we were both born into families that speak American English at home, we were surrounded by English books and media growing up, and our entire education was in English. Even defining who counts as a “native” speaker can be refracted through other social identities. As college-educated white Americans, our English is never questioned, but the same is not true for many equally fluent people around the world. 

Variation in Native Speaker Speech Modification to Non-Native Speakers

1985 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 37-57 ◽  
Author(s):  
Susan M. Gass ◽  
Evangeline Marlos Varonis
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Native Speaker ◽  
Negotiation Of Meaning ◽  
Data Bases ◽  
Proficiency Levels ◽  
Telephone Interviews

This study builds upon prior research dealing with the nature of discourse involving non-native speakers. In particular, we examine variables influencing native speaker foreigner talk and the form that speech modification takes. The data bases are (1) 80 taped telephone interviews between NNSs at two distinct proficiency levels, (interviewer) and NSs (interviewee), and (2) 20 NS-NS interviews. We consider five variables: 1) negotiation of meaning, 2) quantity of speech, 3) amount of repair (following a specific NNS request for repair), 4) elaborated responses, and 5) transparent responses. We find that the speech of NSs changes as a function of an NNS's ability to understand and be understood. We further suggest a general cognitive principle—transparency—underlying aspects of both foreigner talk and second language acquisition.

Fixed-choice word-association tasks as second-language lexical tests: What native-speaker performance reveals about their potential weaknesses

2012 ◽  
Vol 35 (1) ◽  
pp. 193-221 ◽  
Author(s):  
VEDRAN DRONJIC ◽  
RENA HELMS-PARK
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Word Association ◽  
Native Speaker ◽  
Test Validity ◽  
Age Groups ◽  
Vocabulary Knowledge ◽  
Knowledge Test ◽  
Lower Accuracy ◽  
Metalinguistic Knowledge

ABSTRACTQian and Schedl's Depth of Vocabulary Knowledge Test was administered to 31 native-speaker undergraduates under an “unconstrained” condition, in which the number of responses to headwords was unfixed, whereas a corresponding group (n = 36) completed the test under the original “constrained” condition. Results revealed lower accuracy in the unconstrained condition and in paradigmatic versus syntagmatic responses. Native speakers failed to reach the 90% criterion on most unconstrained and many constrained items. Although certain modifications could improve such a test (e.g., eliminating psycholinguistically anomalous headwords, such as adjectives, or presenting responses to headwords discontinuously), two intransigent problems impede test validity. First, collocates in the mental lexicon differ in tightness and vary across dialects, sociolects, and age groups. Second, it is more serious that second-language Depth of Vocabulary Knowledge Tests are likely spot checks of metalinguistic knowledge rather than depth tests that reflect what learners would actually produce in spontaneous utterances.

scholarly journals Maturational Constraints on the Recruitment of Early Processes for Syntactic Processing

2011 ◽  
Vol 23 (10) ◽  
pp. 2752-2765 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eric Pakulak ◽  
Helen J. Neville
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Language Proficiency ◽  
Language Processing ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Native Speaker ◽  
Syntactic Processing ◽  
Neural Organization ◽  
Anterior Negativity

An enduring question in the study of second-language acquisition concerns the relative contributions of age of acquisition (AOA) and ultimate linguistic proficiency to neural organization for second-language processing. Several ERP and neuroimaging studies of second-language learners have found that neural organization for syntactic processing is sensitive to delays in second-language acquisition. However, such delays in second-language acquisition are typically associated with lower language proficiency, rendering it difficult to assess whether differences in AOA or proficiency lead to these effects. Here we examined the effects of delayed second-language acquisition while controlling for proficiency differences by examining participants who differ in AOA but who were matched for proficiency in the same language. We compared the ERP response to auditory English phrase structure violations in a group of late learners of English matched for grammatical proficiency with a group of English native speakers. In the native speaker group, violations elicited a bilateral and prolonged anterior negativity, with onset at 100 msec, followed by a posterior positivity (P600). In contrast, in the nonnative speaker group, violations did not elicit the early anterior negativity, but did elicit a P600 which was more widespread spatially and temporally than that of the native speaker group. These results suggest that neural organization for syntactic processing is sensitive to delays in language acquisition independently of proficiency level. More specifically, they suggest that both early and later syntactic processes are sensitive to maturational constraints. These results also suggest that late learners who reach a high level of second-language proficiency rely on different neural mechanisms than native speakers of that language.

scholarly journals Processing reflexives in a second language: The timing of structural and discourse-level constraints

2011 ◽  
Vol 33 (3) ◽  
pp. 571-603 ◽  
Author(s):  
CLAUDIA FELSER ◽  
IAN CUNNINGS
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Native Speaker ◽  
First Language ◽  
Nonnative Speakers ◽  
Binding Condition ◽  
Reflexive Pronouns ◽  
German Speaking ◽  
Nonnative Speakers Of English ◽  
Language Influence

ABSTRACTWe report the results from two eye-movement monitoring experiments examining the processing of reflexive pronouns by proficient German-speaking learners of second language (L2) English. Our results show that the nonnative speakers initially tried to link English argument reflexives to a discourse-prominent but structurally inaccessible antecedent, thereby violating binding condition A. Our native speaker controls, in contrast, showed evidence of applying condition A immediately during processing. Together, our findings show that L2 learners’ initial focusing on a structurally inaccessible antecedent cannot be due to first language influence and is also independent of whether the inaccessible antecedent c-commands the reflexive. This suggests that unlike native speakers, nonnative speakers of English initially attempt to interpret reflexives through discourse-based coreference assignment rather than syntactic binding.

Factors driving lexical variation in L2 French: A variationist study of automobile, auto, voiture, char and machine

2008 ◽  
Vol 18 (3) ◽  
pp. 365-381 ◽  
Author(s):  
TERRY NADASDI ◽  
RAYMOND MOUGEON ◽  
KATHERINE REHNER
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Second Language Learners ◽  
Native Speakers ◽  
Native Speaker ◽  
External Factors ◽  
Home Language ◽  
Lexical Variation ◽  
Neutral Variant ◽  
The Prestige

ABSTRACTOur paper examines lexical variation in the spoken French of second language learners and focuses on words referring to the notion of ‘automobile’ (i.e., automobile, auto, voiture, char and machine). Results reveal that while students do follow the native speaker pattern of using the neutral variant auto in most instances, they diverge from native speakers by making no use of the vernacular form char and relatively high use of the prestige variant voiture. The principal external factors that influence variant choice are students' home language and the representation of variants in the input to which students are exposed.

The emergence of tense and agreement in child L2 French

1998 ◽  
Vol 14 (3) ◽  
pp. 227-256 ◽  
Author(s):  
Johanne Paradis ◽  
Mathieu Le Corre ◽  
Fred Genesee
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Native Speaker ◽  
Phrase Structure ◽  
L2 Acquisition ◽  
Acquisition Sequence ◽  
L2 Learners ◽  
English Speaking ◽  
Lexical Transfer ◽  
Grammatical Structures

The present study examined the acquisition of tense and agreement by L2 learners of French. We looked at whether the features and and the categories AGRP and TP emerged simultaneously or in sequence in the learners' grammars.We conducted interviews with English-speaking children acquiring French as a second language and with grade-matched native-speaker controls once a year for three years. The data were analysed for the productive use of morphosyntax encoding tense and agreement. Results revealed that items encoding agreement emerged before items encoding tense, suggesting that the abstract grammatical structures associated with these morphosyntax items emerge in sequence. The findings are interpreted with respect to three prevailing views on the acquisition of functional phrase structure in L2 acquisition: the Lexical Transfer/Minimal Trees hypothesis (Vainikka and Young-Scholten, 1994; 1996a; 1996b), the Weak Transfer/Valueless Features hypothesis (Eubank, 1993/94; 1994; 1996) and the Full Transfer/Full Access hypothesis (Schwartz and Sprouse, 1994;1996). Possible reasons for the existence of this acquisition sequence in French are also discussed.

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